Phantasmagoria
by Blue Rogue Linds
Summary: After seven sleepless nights, little Maria's nightmare turns into a horrific prophecy as she witnesses the murder of her father.


"You should be in the bed, Maria." Admiral Mendosa was seated at his polished desk with a stack of papers set off to the side. His youngest child, Maria, was having nightmares again. She had not gotten a good night's rest for a week now.

"I'm scared, daddy." He sighed and smiled at her. She had her thumb buried in her mouth.

"Everything is fine. Dreams aren't real, my dear. You must understand that." He stood from his chair and crossed the room to where she was. He knelt down and scooped her up into his arms.

"I keep on having dreams that you die in daddy! What if it does happen? I don't want you to go…" She sobbed uncontrollably. Mendosa stroked her face and held her closely.

"I am not going anywhere, Maria. You're being overemotional, child. There's nothing to worry about. I have an entire fleet of soldiers stationed around this ship. No one is going to die. Do you understand now?" She just nodded and sniffled. Mendosa breathed a sigh of relief and meandered out into the hallway. Doc was busy in his office as usual. However, he wondered where his young captain, Ramirez, was. The lad had not reported in that morning. Perhaps he was still dealing with those troublesome Ixa'Takans. He entered Maria's room and laid her onto the bed.

"Promise you'll never leave me daddy…" She said shakily as he pulled the quilted blankets over her shivering body. Mendosa leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"You already know that I'm not going anywhere." He tapped her nose and grinned. This smile was different. Maria was but an innocent child. She could not begin to fathom the torture her father had subjected the Ixa'Takan people to for his own personal gain. He left the room but left her door open to let a little light in.

"What if it does happen?" Maria whispered to herself. She tossed around in the bed until she finally found a warm spot to curl up in. She shoved her thumb back into her mouth and shut her eyes. Even still, the vision haunted her. Her father's corpse lay in the middle of his office surrounded with blood and flames. All she could make out of the assailant was a silver blade. The rest was nothing but shadows and sobs. She quickly jolted upright. She hugged her knees close to her little chest and shook her head about wildly. "Please make it go away! I don't want to have any more bad dreams!" She heard footsteps in the hallway and ducked beneath her covers. She poked her head out for a moment to see who it was. It was the boy that her father called Ramirez. He was always nice to her so she felt relaxed. However, there was something frightening about his gaze and demeanor. "Rami…?" He paused and glanced back at her.

"Go back to sleep Maria." He said gently and advanced down the hallway towards Mendosa's office. Maria felt her stomach tighten and turn. She lay down once more and tried to go to sleep. Even the nighttime air was menacing. Her breaths were strained and forced. She was choking herself with all of this fear and worry. True, she had just turned four years old, but this was still as real as ever. Maybe her father could tell her a story or something? She crawled out of bed and scuttled into the hallway. She faced the door to her father's office and pattered towards it. Something slammed into the door, opening it entirely. Maria smelled smoke in an instant and her eyes watered. Something had fallen into the hallway. It was too dark to see what it was so she stepped over it frantically. She had to reach her father. She rushed into the office.

"You will never get away with this, Ramirez. I treated you like a son!" Flames had engulfed the back wall of the office.

"I was a fool to have followed you so blindly. You are NO father of mine." Ramirez had Mendosa cornered near the flames. Maria froze in horror. She was too frightened to even scream or cry. At least thirty or so other bodies littered the floor around the two men. Blood and appendages were scattered about like toys in a messy child's room. Ramirez's silver blade rose to the ceiling and swooped across Mendosa's neck-line like a bird of prey. His head tumbled from its pedestal and to the floor. The body slumped and crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Daddy…?" It was all Maria could whisper into the air. Doc had heard the noises and came running down the hallway to see what had went on. Ramirez just stared back at the little girl situated in the center of the door frame. A deep sorrow had filled his eyes. Darkness had already taken him. Children like Maria deserved a better world than what Mendosa had created. If he worked with Galcian, perhaps he could redeem himself of this crime and repay the child for her loss.

"I have freed you from a tyrant." The statement had been directed at the child.

"Ramirez, what have you done?!" Doc spotted Maria near the door. Her little feet were soaked in the blood of the cadaver that had fallen into the hallway.

"I'm not Ramirez anymore. He is dead also." He walked up to Maria and lifted her chin with the tip of his ensanguined blade. "Get her out of here." He sheathed the blade and walked past the doctor. Maria hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. She just stood there and stared out at the chaos. Silently, tears slid down her cheeks from her wide and lifeless eyes. The tears trickled in a downwards spirals towards the floor to join the puddles of blood at her feet…


End file.
